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A Tale in the Desert
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==Tests== The majority of ''ATITD'' challenges take the form of 56 defined "Tests", separated into several groups. Of these, the first in each group is a trivial request, intended to introduce players to the [[academic discipline|discipline]] - the group that challenge is in. Beyond those initiations, seven challenges exist for each discipline, arranged into themes: * The '''Architecture''' Discipline is based on building large and potentially ornate structures, such as a useful [[aqueduct]] or an exceptional burial temple. The secondary goal of Architecture is to complete these projects as simply and efficiently as possible, which can require substantial planning, trading, and cooperation. * The '''Art''' Discipline is primarily based around creative expression in a limited framework, with players building mosaics, breeding [[scarab]]s for colour and pattern, forming [[fireworks]] out of basic materials, or creating detailed sculptures. * The '''Body''' Discipline is focused around [[surveying]] the land, both socially and geographically, to determine where various resources are. Some of the challenges within involve finding 28 different varieties of [[mushroom]], or deducing the locations of [[cicada]]s hidden by other players. * The now-defunct '''Conflict''' discipline, removed in the third Telling to make way for Harmony, was centred around the pursuit of excellence in a series of games, generally with [[perfect information]]. These games, such as variants on [[checkers]] and [[euchre]], are now played in weekly or biweekly tournaments. * The '''Harmony''' discipline, new to the third Telling, is generally focused around knowing one's fellow players; many of these were based on a discussion at the [[Ludium]] game developer conference.<ref>[http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2006/05/atitd_tests_evp.html Terra Nova: ATITD Tests Psychological Origins of Play]</ref> They include Marriage, where a player gives reciprocal access to their account and goods to another, as well as Mentorship, which requires players to enter the mentoring island and assist someone in becoming a citizen. * The '''Leadership''' discipline is much like the Harmony discipline in that the participant is required to know his or her fellow players, but rather than predicting their actions, one must influence them positively. One of the tests in Leadership, the Test of the Demi-Pharaoh, requires the player to be elected among all their peers; the reward, accordingly, is the ability to [[ban]] seven players from the game. Other tests include a [[Survivor (TV series)|Survivor]]-like game between 12 people, or the formation of a [[bureaucracy]]. * The '''Thought''' discipline is centred around the creation of numerous puzzles: the goal here is to make said puzzles simple enough that they can be effectively solved, but difficult enough to be challenging for the majority of players. Among those puzzles available are [[logic mazes]] and a modification of the popular ''[[Rush Hour (board game)|Rush Hour]]''. * The '''Worship''' discipline is centred around the need to please various [[List of Egyptian mythology topics|deities]], often through an organized group of players working in unison. The Test most characteristic of this is that of Festivals, which requires 100 players to act in unison within one hour, on a global basis. Upon completing a Test, a player advances in rank for that discipline. The various ranks range from Initiate to Oracle, and determine one's proficiency in the discipline. At the Oracle rank, where the player has completed all seven Tests, they may build a [[Monument]] to celebrate that discipline. Furthermore, if 127 disciples are found to take part in it, the players may create a challenge for the next Telling, to replace one of those used before. The ultimate goal of the game, therefore, can be summed up as "having enough players cooperate and complete the Tests for every discipline so that seven Monuments can be built before the end". ===First Telling=== The First Telling was released on February 15, 2003, after approximately three years of open testing. While considered to have more bugs than the others,{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} it also had a tight-knit community, formed in part by the crossover of various guilds during the beta.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} So far, this is the only Telling to have "won" the game, by completing the main challenges; it lasted approximately one and a half years, and ended on September 2, 2004. Kemet was a [[German language|German]] server running concurrently with the first Telling, although released on February 1, 2003: while the international version was produced solely by eGenesis, much of the work on Kemet was done by [[MDO Games]], an overseas publisher.<ref>[http://pc.gamezone.com/news/12_10_02_09_25PM.htm A Tale In The Desert Launching In European Market - PC News]</ref> Ultimately, due to the extremely low population of the version, it was dropped for the second incarnation, but the result carried over into the next international version. Additionally, the majority of MDO's translations from English to German were kept. Kemet ended at the same time as the first international Telling. ===The Second Telling=== The Second Telling began on September 3, 2004, with a host of changes: one new challenge was released for each discipline to replace an old one, over the course of the game, as well as a second test for the discipline of Worship. This Telling implemented changes to various technologies from the first, as well as an overhaul of the GUI; a different tutorial for newcomers replaced the old midway through. The players did not manage to complete the challenges in the second Telling but did finish Monuments for the disciplines of Architecture, Body, Leadership, and Worship. The Telling ended on May 24, 2006, roughly 627 days after its inception. ===The Third Telling=== The Third Telling, released on approximately May 30, 2006. A relatively loose levelling system was added as a means to connect with gamers who are more familiar with mainstream [[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPG]] design. The Discipline of Conflict was dropped in favour of a new discipline, the Discipline of Harmony. Mining was returned to something more like the first tale, but with its own mysterious workings. The Test of Mentorship was modified to fix an issue that made it more challenging for those who began to play late in the tale. Additionally, an in-game event calendar was added, so that developers and players could more easily communicate events without the need for a third party website. The Telling ended on December 11, 2008, roughly 926 days after its inception. ===The Fourth Telling=== The Fourth Telling was released on December 13, 2008.<ref>http://www.atitd.com/news/t3_newsletter_7.html</ref> eGenesis launched a second shard, called Bastet, on February 20, 2010<ref>http://www.atitd.com/news/t4_shards.html</ref> This server is running concurrently with the existing main shard for the fourth telling and uses most of the same code for the main shard, but with the exception that all of the tests are unlockable immediately - thus making the speed of this tale completely player-controlled. ===The Fifth Telling=== The Fifth Telling was released on August 7, 2010.
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